Science in the Age of Modern Revolution

Industrial Revolution is the widespread replacement of manual labor by machines that began in
Western Europe, particularly Great Britain, during the last half of the 18th century and is still
continuing in some parts of the world.

Industrial Revolution is the increase in production brought about by the use of machines and
characterized by the use of new energy sources.

Industrial revolution is the change on how goods are being manufactured by industries.

Before the Industrial Revolution, goods were manufactured manually, which often required
considerable craft skills in workers. Because of this, costs were high and the volume of production
was relatively low.

The introduction of Industrialization greatly heightened output and made key goods, sometimes
called commodities, more accessible to people.

The Industrial Revolution was considered the first step in modern economic growth and
development.

Industrial Revolution is said to be a revolution because it changed society both significantly and
rapidly. But before industrial revolution came into picture, it was in the Neolithic Revolution,
which took place in the later part of the Stone Age, where agriculture was the center or source of
economic needs.

In a broad sense agriculture includes cultivation of the soil, growing and harvesting crops, breeding
and raising livestock, dairying, and forestry.

In the Neolithic Revolution, people depended on agriculture and the domestication of animals.
This led to the rise of permanent settlements and, eventually, urban civilizations. The Industrial
Revolution brought a shift from the agricultural societies created during the Neolithic Revolution
to modern industrial societies.

Economic activities moved from agriculture to manufacturing, production shifted from its
traditional locations in the home and the small workshop to factories.

The changes brought by the Industrial Revolution overturned not only traditional economies, but
also the whole societies. Economic changes caused social changes, including the movement of
people to cities, the availability of a greater variety of material goods, and new ways of doing
business.

There have been costs, however. Industrialization has brought factory pollutants and greater land
use, which have harmed the natural environment. In particular, the application of machinery and
science to agriculture has led to greater land use and, therefore, extensive loss of habitat for animals
and plants. In addition, drastic population growth following industrialization has contributed to the
decline of natural habitats and resources. These factors, in turn, have caused many species to
become endangered or extinct.
 Changes in Industry

Coal

Modern industry requires power to run its machinery. During the development of the
Industrial Revolution in Britain, coal was the main source of power. Even before the 18th century,
some British industries had begun using the country’s plentiful coal supply instead of wood, which
was much scarcer. Coal was adopted by the brewing, metalworking, and glass and ceramics
industries, demonstrating its potential for use in many industrial processes.

Iron

The most important advance in iron production occurred in 1784 when Englishman Henry
Cort invented new techniques for rolling raw iron, a finishing process that shapes iron into the
desired size and form. These advances in metalworking were an important part of industrialization.
They enabled iron, which was relatively inexpensive and abundant, to be used in many new ways,
such as building heavy machinery.

Iron was well suited for heavy machinery because of its strength and durability. Because of these
new developments iron came to be used in machinery for many industries.

Iron was also vital to the development of railroads, which improved transportation. Better
transportation made commerce easier, and along with the growth of commerce enabled economic
growth to spread to additional regions. In this way, the changes of the Industrial Revolution
transform the British economy.

Steam

As early as 1689, English engineer Thomas Savery created a steam engine to pump water
from mines. Thomas Newcomen, another English engineer, developed an improved version by
1712. Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer James Watt made the most significant
improvements, allowing the steam engine to be used in many industrial settings, not just in mining.
Early mills had run successfully with water power, but the advancement of using the steam engine
meant that a factory could be located anywhere, not just close to water.

Steam engines found many uses in a variety of other industries, including steamboats and railroads.
Steam engines are another example of how some changes brought by industrialization led to even
more changes in other areas.

Textiles

The industry most often associated with the Industrial Revolution is the textile industry.
The first important invention in textile production came in 1733. British inventor John Kay created
a device known as the flying shuttle, which partially mechanized the process of weaving. By 1770
British inventor and industrialist James Hargreaves had invented the spinning jenny, a machine
that spins a number of threads at once, and British inventor and cotton manufacturer Richard
Arkwright had organized the first production using water-powered spinning. These developments
permitted a single spinner to make numerous strands of yarn at the same time. By about 1779
British inventor Samuel Crompton introduced a machine called the mule, which further improved
mechanized spinning by decreasing the danger that threads would break and by creating a finer
thread.

Throughout the textile industry, specialized machines powered either by water or steam appeared.
Row upon row of these innovative, highly productive machines filled large, new mills and
factories.
The most important results of these changes were enormous increases in the output of goods per
worker. A single spinner or weaver, for example, could now turn out many times the volume of
yarn or cloth that earlier workers had produced. This marvel of rising productivity was the central
economic achievement that made the Industrial Revolution such a milestone in human history.

Rationalization of the Craft Technique

Crafts (also handcrafts or handicrafts), the making of decorative or functional objects, generally
by hand. Hand and power tools may be used, however, in making some craft items. The term
crafts also refers to the objects made.

Paper Craft

Papier-mâché is the craft of fashioning objects from any kind of absorbent paper that has
been soaked in a solution of water and glue. When dry, sealant and paint are applied.

Decoupage involves the use of flat pieces of paper (often patterned) to decorate three-
dimensional objects, anything from lunch boxes to clocks. Scissors are needed to cut out the
designs, and glue is used to attach them. Many coats of varnish are then applied.

Bookbinding techniques can be used to create diaries, photo albums, address books, and
notebooks from chipboard, paper, heavy thread, cloth, and glue. Bookbinding requires dexterity
and care but is not difficult to learn.

Textile and Fiber Crafts

Weaving is a method of creating fabric by interlacing two sets of yarn threads called the
warp and the weft. The warp threads form the base for the weaving; they are arranged parallel to
one another and held in tension on a loom. The weft is a single thread that is passed over and
under the warp threads in a systematic way to create a solid or patterned piece of cloth.
Beginners can outfit themselves inexpensively by making or purchasing simple looms. More
advanced weavers working on large pieces use the treadle loom, a large, fairly expensive
machine that holds long warp threads and can make quick and complicated changes in the
placement of these threads to allow for many patterns.

Basketry is the craft of making baskets and bags, mats, rugs, and other items through weaving,
plaiting, and coiling techniques. Traditional basketry materials include reed, cane, rush, sisal
fiber, and ash-wood splints. Equipment is simple: a knife, scissors, a sturdy needle for sewing
together coiled baskets, and roundnose pliers for pulling difficult reeds. Beginners are able to
produce satisfactory, simple products, and more advanced basket makers find challenge in
complex patterns and forms.

In macrame, or ornamental knotting, cotton, linen, or jute cord or rug yarn is used to make bags,
wall hangings, and containers. A knotting board with pins helps keep the work in place, and a
yardstick and scissors are also useful.

In embroidery, a needle and thread are used to create designs on fabric. Many styles of
embroidery exist. Some are used to decorate areas on a piece of cloth, usually linen; other styles,
notably needlepoint and bargello, are used to fill in completely with pattern an openwork mesh
canvas. Embroidery requires frames and hoops to hold the fabric in tension, embroidery needles,
scissors, thread, and yarn.

Rug hooking is the craft of making rugs by inserting thin strips of wool through a heavy base
fabric by means of a hand hook or a punch needle. In rug knotting, rugs are created by tying
pieces of yarn on rug canvas with a tapestry needle or a latch hook, or on warp threads arranged
on a loom. Both hooking and knotting require patience and practice but are easily mastered.
In quilting, three layers of fabric (a decorative top layer, filler, and a liner) are stitched or tied
together. For patchwork quilts, pieces of cloth are sewn together to form a large, patterned
material that serves as the top layer. Quilting calls for templates for cutting patchwork shapes,
quilting needles, thread, and scissors. Hand quilting also requires a quilting frame.

Batik is a method of creating patterns on fabric by applying wax to areas of the cloth that will
then retain their original color during dyeing. Equipment includes special tools to apply the wax
and for dyeing. The process is not difficult but requires care.

Fabric may also be patterned through silk-screen printing. A silk screen is a rectangular frame
over which silk has been stretched; on this rests a stencil of the desired pattern or design. As
different colors are applied, portions of the screen are blocked out with photographic film, grease
ink, wax, paper, or other substance wherever the image is to remain unprinted. The cloth is
placed under the screen, and a squeegee is used to force dye through the unblocked portions of
the screen, thus transferring the image onto the fabric. Silk-screen printing is also used to print
designs on paper with ink or paint.

Leather Craft

Many handsome and useful objects can be fashioned from leather, using cutting, shaping,
and joining techniques. The beginner can construct simple projects with a minimum of tools;
more involved projects require additional tools and a sure knowledge of working with this
expensive material. Besides a utility knife, special tools include leather shears, punches for
carving thick leather, a thonging chisel, and a lacing needle.

Pottery

Ceramic objects can be molded completely by hand or thrown (shaped) on a potter's

wheel, a device with a rotating horizontal disk. When the clay hardens, it is fired in a high-
temperature oven, or kiln, to strengthen it. To make the object waterproof, glazes may then be
applied and the piece fired again. Although hand construction is easy to master, throwing on the
potter's wheel requires practice. Several simple tools are used by potters, including sponges,
trimming tools, wooden shaping tools, and a banding wheel to facilitate trimming the clay. A
potter must have access to a kiln, use of which is generally shared by a group of workers.

Woodworking

Such basic woodworking techniques as sawing, joining, and finishing can be employed to
make a wide variety of useful and ornamental objects, from jewelry boxes to picture frames.
Equipment includes a workbench and carpentry tools, as well as a miter box, a measuring tape,
sandpaper, and varnishes.

Wood carving is another craft that both beginning and advanced woodworkers can enjoy.
Spoons, bowls, and toys are items that can be created from a piece of wood with only a saw,
gouges, a mallet, files, and sandpaper.

Jewelry making

Jewelry making ranges from simple work with beads and found objects to advanced
metalworking. For work in metal, the jewelry maker needs a basic knowledge of sawing, filing,
soldering, and buffing. More advanced techniques include enameling, forging metal, casting
(using molds to shape molten metal), and granulation (attaching pieces of metal without
soldering). The worker in metal should be equipped with a workbench, hammers, pliers, files,
mallets, burnishers, and soldering tools. Attractive innovative jewelry can be made from
inexpensive materials; fashioning objects from gold, silver, and gemstones requires a
considerable financial investment.
Other crafts

Many other crafts are practiced today. Among them are work in acrylics and other
plastics, bread dough sculpting, knitting and crocheting, making cloth toys and dolls, flower
crafts, shell crafts, candle making, decorative inlay and marquetry work with wood, stenciling,
and making miniatures.

Invention of Simple Machine

Machine, simple device that affects the force, or effort, needed to do a certain amount of work.
Machines can make a tough job seem easier by enabling a person to apply less force or to apply
force in a direction that is easier to manipulate. Machines lessen the force needed to perform
work by lengthening the distance over which the force is applied. Although less force is
subsequently used, the amount of work that results remains the same. Machines can also increase
the speed at which work makes an object travel, but increasing speed requires the application of
more effort.

There are four types of simple machines: the lever, the pulley, the inclined plane, and the wheel
and axle. Each machine affects the direction or the amount of effort needed to do work. Most
mechanical machines, such as automobiles or power tools, are complex machines composed of
many parts. However, no matter how complicated a machine is, it is composed of some
combination of the four simple machines. Although these simple machines have been known and
used for thousands of years, no other simple machines have been discovered. Two other common
simple machines, the screw and the wedge, are really adaptations of the inclined plane.

Some common examples of simple machines are the shovel (a form of lever), the pulley at the
top of a flagpole, the steering wheel of an automobile (a form of wheel and axle), and the
wheelchair ramp (a form of inclined plane). An everyday example of a complex machine is the
can opener, which combines a lever (the hinged handle), a wheel and axle (the turning knob),
and a wedge (the sharpened cutting disk).